Hello, Heartache
by tjmack
Summary: Heavy on season 4 spoilers! In the moments that passed by, she watched his body collapse to the hard, unforgiving ground beneath him.


_**A/N:** _I just want to start off by saying that this is my first time writing for Pretty Little Liars, so please go easy on me when reviewing. I tried my hardest to keep everyone in character. This is very season 4 spoilery. So, if you aren't caught up with the show, I wouldn't recommend you reading this. This is an idea that popped into my head a few weeks ago, and just wouldn't leave me alone. I hope you all enjoy this!

* * *

It all came together quickly. Like it was something they had known all along, but refused to believe. Though the truth was staring at them, the four girls still couldn't believe it. Not only was A, a man, it was a man that had become a part of their lives. Ezra Fitz stood before them, an eerie look of confidence on his face, even though he had been caught.

Spencer watched as Aria's legs gave out on her. Her knees buckled, as she crumpled to the floor. Spencer definitely felt her pain. It was the same feeling that Spencer had felt when Toby had been standing in her kitchen with that black hoodie on. It was the feeling of your life – your world, crashing down around you. Everything you thought might be real, was suddenly not.

They had all believed that Ezra was harmless. Nothing more than a high school teacher that took a special interest in his students, and in Aria's case, went a little over the line.

In that moment, the three of them realized just how deeply Aria had loved Ezra. No one breaks down like that unless you loved someone deeply and unconditionally.

Still, Spencer didn't quite understand _why_. Why was Ezra trying to ruin their lives, and how in the hell did he know so much about them? None of it made sense. She shook her head, and did the only thing she could think of, as Emily and Hanna comforted Aria. She stalked forward, her own look of confidence on her face, as she stood in front of Ezra Fitz. "You're despicable." Spencer spat at him, before her arm yanked backward and quickly slammed forward. The force behind the slap was far beyond what Spencer thought she was physically capable of. The sound of flesh connecting with flesh reverberated through-out the small warehouse that they found themselves in.

Ezra chuckled lightly, the evil glint in his eyes told Spencer that they were in danger. His hand softly massaged at the reddening cheek that Spencer had just slapped. "Do you think you're the first one who has told me that? Because you're not. Do you think I just woke up one day and said, _I think I'm going to torture some high school students today_? Because I didn't. You were targeted for one very special reason. One that shouldn't be hard to figure out. Not for someone as smart as you are, Spencer. I targeted each and every single one of you, because of that _bitch_."

Spencer took a step backward from Ezra. "You mean Allison?"

Ezra smirked, before continuing. "Yes. I mean Allison. That bitch tried everything in her power to get me thrown into prison. Going on about how I raped her. How I forced myself on her. She came to me! I didn't know how old she was, I was drunk!"

Spencer glanced back at her three friends, before staring at Ezra. "Wait... Are you board shorts?"

Ezra rolled his eyes, "I hate being called that. After I threatened her, she started to call me that so that no one would realize who it was she was talking about."

Spencer's eyes widened after a moment. "Wait. You didn't just target us, because we're friends with Ali. You targeted us because you hoped that we would eventually lead you to her. Let me guess, you didn't finish the job the first time, so you needed to clean up your mess?"

Ezra chuckled, "Yeah. Something like that. As it would seem, my mess has gotten bigger. Though, its no problem for me to take care of four, scared, high school girls. So, just tell me where Allison is, and we can end this the easy way."

Aria stood up and stared at Ezra. Anger written on her features. "Did it mean nothing to you!?" She screamed at him.

"I can't lie to you, Aria. It did. For a moment, a brief slip in judgment, I thought about ending the whole _A _thing. Then I realized that what we had, while very real to me, would end. You weren't a spiteful bitch like your little friend, so I wasn't afraid that you might do something stupid."

Spencer placed a comforting hand on Aria's shoulder before speaking. "What's the easy way? I'm smart enough to know that it doesn't involve you letting us go."

He shook his head, "Of course not. Do I look stupid to you? I know that you four will just run to police and tell them all about this. Though, with your track record with Rosewood PD, they probably wouldn't believe you. Why would they believe four lying bitches over a teacher with a fairly clean record? No, the easy way just means less pain. If you make this hard for me, then I will make your death's painful. I will make you suffer so badly that you will be begging me to kill you."

All four of them grabbed each others hands and took a few steps back. In that moment they realized that they had made a fatal mistake. They started to shake, as Ezra stepped toward them. The menacing look in his eyes only grew with each individual step he took. As he was almost close enough to grab a hold of them, a door behind them swung open, banging hard against the metal wall. It was enough of a distraction for the four of them to turn and run for the door. Spencer stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Toby standing just inside the door.

"Go." He yelled at her, without even looking in her direction.

Spencer waved her friends on, before shutting the door. "I'm not leaving without you." She whispered, as her hand clutched his tightly. She could see his resolve wavering for a moment, before Ezra started to descend upon them.

"I can't protect you, if you're still in harm's way."

"I don't need you to protect me, Toby. I need you to be alive!" Flashes of a lifeless body stood out in her minds eye, causing her body to shiver.

"He is going to kill you and your friends. Someone has to stop him." Toby turned and pressed a kiss to her forehead, before shoving her into one of the dark corners of the warehouse.

He started to make a move toward Ezra. Spencer glared out through the darkness, barely able to make out both men. As her vision started to adjust to the darkness, she saw a flash of light and heard the unmistakeable sound of gunfire. In the moments that passed by, she watched his body collapse to the hard, unforgiving ground beneath him. She screamed out, unable to control herself, as sobs wracked her body. She stumbled forward, nearly tripping over her own feet. Toby's body came into view, as did Ezra. He stood proudly over Toby, a smile of triumph on his face as he knelt down beside Toby.

"Guess you shouldn't have gone against me, Toby. That girl was only going to screw you over. It's what girls do."

Spencer screamed out again, this time in anger, as she rushed toward Ezra, as he was rising back into a standing position. She nailed his hip hard, causing his body to crumple to the ground. The gun he had been hold skittered away from his hand. Spencer sneered at him. "Oh, you were right about one thing, _Mr. Fitz_. I do plan on screwing someone over, but it would never be Toby." She rushed forward, kneeling down to grab the gun. She picked it up and pointed it directly at Ezra. Spencer realized in that moment, as the gun shook in her hand, that she had never fired a weapon before.

"You won't do it." Ezra chuckled. "You don't have the guts."

Spencer took a deep breath, and squeezed her eyes shut before her finger pulled back on the trigger. Once, twice, three times. She heard a body hit the floor hard. Her eyes popped open and she looked around. Tears fell from her eyes, as she saw Ezra's body sprawled out as blood poured out onto the floor from underneath him.

She sat the gun down, and moved toward Toby. His eyes were open, but barely. "Hang on. You hear me. I can't lose you. I just can't. It nearly broke me the first time, Toby. It would kill me if you were gone for good."

Toby reached his hand up, and brushed his fingers gently against her cheek. "You can't get rid of me that easy." He smiled softly at her.

Without a second thought, Spencer pulled her cellphone from her pocket, and dialed 911. It was going to be hard to explain what had gone down in that warehouse. Why Ezra had been trying to kill them, and how Toby had ended up in the warehouse with them.

* * *

Two weeks had passed in a near blur. Aria was starting to leave the house again, though the emotional scars that Ezra had left on her heart were visible. Mascara streaked cheeks left nothing to the imagination. Caleb had forgotten about his personal mission in Ravenswood for the time being, as he came back to Rosewood to comfort Hanna.

Though Spencer's heart had shattered the moment the gun had gone off, and she watched as Toby collapsed before her eyes, she had found a way to put it back together. It had been helpful that Toby would be released from the hospital in a few short days. Though the bullet had nicked an artery, and Toby had lost a lot of blood, he had pulled through the surgery and was flying through the physical therapy.

Even if Spencer's heart had been glued back together again, this time it held a certain darkness to it. It was something that would follow her for the rest of her life. Though it was something she had done, not only to protect herself, but to protect Toby as well, it was something that would haunt her forever. The looks she got in the hallway at school. The ones that labeled her a killer. It was unnerving to say the least. Yet, she also knew that she only had a few months left of school before graduation, and she was completely ready to leave Rosewood in the dust and forget all about Ezra and his murderous plan. Though she highly doubted that she would return to Rosewood after she finished college, Spencer was certain that Hanna, Aria, and Emily would forever be a part of her life. They had been through so much together, that Spencer knew it would take much more than living out of state to break them apart.

Toby had already promised her that he would follow her wherever it was that she decided to go to college. Though, her parents wouldn't be happy, Spencer couldn't think of anything else that would make her happier than to have Toby with her no matter where she was.

It was in that moment that Spencer realized that if it hadn't been for Ezra trying to tear them all apart, then she never would have reconnected with her friends. She never would have become so close with Toby. No matter how miserable the past year and a half had been on all of them, there was a silver lining to all the heartache that made it worth waking up every morning and saying hello to the heartache that would follow them all around for years to come.


End file.
